Indentured Servants

Indenture Servant

The institution was not considered inhumane -- most of our Quaker ancestors came to Pennsylvania and other colonies as indentured servants to more well-to-do Friends. Still, it is certainly true that there were probably as many miserable masters of indentured servants as there were miserable slavemasters. A servant's time was certainly not his or her own during the term of servitude; however, for the most part, those who hired themselves out under such terms knew that, assuming all went well and there was no sickness or pregnancy, then after a specific period of time, and the time varied greatly, they would be free.

Generally speaking, servants could not marry during the term of their indenture. If a female servant became pregnant, regardless of who the father of the child might be, her term could be extended for the period of time during which she was incapable of working due to pregnancy and any consequences there of. If an indentured servant was accused of fathering a child, he could face legal action and if the mother of the child was another servant, the time she might miss on account of her condition could be added to the servant-father's time as well as her own. Servants (and bound apprentices) were also expected, if learning a trade, to keep all the

"mysteries" of the trade secret, a holdover from the medieval trade guilds.

Servants were usually to work for a set number of years at a specific trade, if one was already had, or learning a trade could be part of the bargain. Women usually were to be trained in the skills of housewifery, far more demanding than anything housewives do today. I know this, because I have been learning 18th century housewifery skills for the last 8 years. At the

end of the term, the servant would be given his or her freedom dues a suit of clothes, sometimes along with hand-farming implements (grubbing hoe, rakes, etc.), and his or her freedom.

Those servants who came over to work for a specific person in this country were one type of indentured servants. They generally received land as part of their agreement, especially early on in the founding of Pennsylvania. They were often kinsmen or members of the same community as their masters who would pay their passage, and the time they served as to repay the master for footing the bill of transatlantic travel.

There were also redemptioners, generally Germans and sometimes Scots, whose passage was paid for by the shipmaster and then their contracts were sold to the highest bidder when they landed in a port. Sometimes whole families came over this way. The Pennsylvania Gazette is full of ads from people looking for siblings with whom they had come over but as they were sold to masters from different parts of the colony, they hadn't seen them in years. Sometimes they never saw one another again.

Although the average age for ordinary children to be bound as an apprentice to learn a trade was 14, poor children could be bound out as early as 18 months to 3 years of age for periods as long as 18-20 years, or until they reached maturity (usually 21 for males, 18 for females). I have a list of indentured servants who were bound out under the guidance of the Guardians of the Poor of the City of Philadelphia (1752-1799--the time period in which I am interested in is limited solely to the 17th and 18th century, so I don't go beyond 1799)to residents of Chester and later Delaware County. Some of the trades to be learned were weaving, shallop fishing, husbandry

(farming), housewifery,cordwaining, tobaccanist, shoemaker, joinery (carpentry), tanning, and curriery (sp?). Sometimes all the indenture says is that the child is to learn to read, write and cipher. or to read, sew, knit, and spin, especially in the indentures before 1762.

After that time, the expectation changed to specify the freedom dues as well, such as "Farmer, read, write, cipher, 2 compleat suits of apparel, one to be new" or "Read, write, cypher to rule of 3, spade, axe, grubbing hoe, and sickle, freedom." In the case of Anne Callins who was indentured in 1768 for 15 years to William Moore of West Caln, she was to be trained in "housewifery,to be taught to read, write, and cipher, and sew, knit and spin, and to have the customary freedoms." Elizabeth Baley in 1770 was bound to Matthew Taylor of Edgmont for 15 years and she was to be taught "housewifery, sew, knit, and spin, to read in the Bible, and write a legible Hand." Gabriel Stevenson was bound for six years in 1770 to Thomas Swain of

Ridley who was to provide Gabriel with 12 months of school six months of which were to be in the last year of his term. In 1779 Thomas Bubridge (possibly Burbridge) was bound to Edward Horne of Darby and was to learn "the trade of a farmer or fuller, read the Bible, write a legible hand, and cipher as far as the Rule of 3, with the customary dues." Edward Hoope was bound in 1799 for 3 years to John Jones of Radnor, "to be taught the art & misery of a mariner."

Undoubtedly, many of these children became like members of the family. Not surprisingly, some probably opted to bolt at the first opportunity. There were many advertisements in local papers, primarily the Pennsylvania Gazette, the Pennsylvania Evening Post, and the Virginia Gazette. These advertisements, while necessarily subjective, often provide a detailed description of facial features, hair color, height, and the clothing the person "had on and took with" him or her. The clothing descriptions alone give a fascinating look at the wide variety of clothing worn (and stolen) by runaway servants.

Source: 27 Oct 1998

Karen Mullian

booboopies@aol.com